How 1 far-right platform has weaponized antisemitism and Christian extremism to foment insurrection
In the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Twitter deplatformed Trump for inciting violence and cracked down on other users. Amazon kicked conservative social media site Parler off of its servers for failing to police extremist conversation. And in the wake of the insurrection, membership of Gab, which has long been a home for far-right extremists and hate speech of all stripes, swelled — even as it was criticized for allowing users to plan the attack on the Capitol on its platform, down to the tools used to pry open doors.
The social media platforms all played a role in the lead-up to the assault on the Capitol. But something that went unmentioned in all of the mainstream coverage of the site in the wake of Jan. 6 is the site’s Christian ideology, and the way it relies on Christianity to justify its extremist content – whether that’s claiming the election was rigged or promoting blatantly antisemitic beliefs.
Most coverage of Gab has focused on its social media site, which looks similar to Facebook: a feed of posts from various people, a sidebar listing groups and topics you can follow. Numerous articles have talked about the site’s lack of moderation which leads to a fertile environment for hate speech, while Gab has defended itself by arguing that it is merely giving users First Amendment rights.
But today, Gab is an entire ecosystem, not just a social media platform. There’s a video platform and a news site, and Gab’s mission goes beyond free speech. On a page titled “What is Gab?” the site’s mission is defined as building “technology that powers a parallel Christian economy.” Tweets from Gab’s now-defunct account made it clear that the world it hopes to build is defined in opposition to a Jewish-ruled one; the posts imply a belief in the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews currently control our society.
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